If a 0.4mm nozzle is 4x the area of a 0.2mm nozzle, should I print 4x faster with a 0.2mm nozzle?
Context - I think I’m having heat creep and printing too slow. (ender 3, pla 210c)
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Yes and no; you’ve got a lot of engineering variables here.
Can you go physically faster in the X/Y, if limited by your volumetric flow already? Yes.
Can you go physically faster in X/Y and maintain the same quality with the current machine setup? It depends on your setup.
If you’re not limited by volumetric flow of the hot end already, then you could theoretically go a lot faster. If your setup isn’t rigid and able to maintain those speeds, you’ll end up with garbage.
BUT NONE OF THAT MATTERS
If you think you’re having heat creep - the first thing to check is the fans.
Next thing to check is that you ACTUALLY have the hot end built correctly. The stock hot end is known for pushing that PTFE tubing up, melting filament, and forming a plug between the end of the PTFE tubing and the nozzle’s back face.
Additionally, 0.2mm nozzles are a BITCH AND A HALF. Get into Resin if you need better quality than a 0.4mm can provide you. Or hire it out.
You’re trying to solve the wrong problem here. You don’t try and go faster because something is broken. You go faster when everything is working PERFECTLY.
If you are stubborn and still want to use 0.2mm nozzles – A: Don’t own pets. B: Buy high quality filament. C: install wipers along the filament path. D: Get a good air filtration system for the area the 3D printer lives in. E: Buy high quality nozzles that you can be assured are actually 0.2mm
A: Don’t own pets.
Since I’m curious (and just a 0.4mm scrub) I’m assuming pet hair is enough to block the nozzle?
Not just pet hair, but pet dander. Pets in general just add a bunch of stuff to the air that likes to land on top of uncovered rolls of filament; I run a repair shop for 3D printers, and after some surveying, I’ve found that people with pets experience clogs much more often.
0.2mm nozzles are like 25% of the area that a 0.4 has. That means every, little, potential bit of problem can, and WILL clog the nozzle.
Additionally, the 0.2mm nozzles are so tiny, there’s not likely a good way to clean them, as most needles are 0.3mm or larger.
Yeah that makes sense.
I guess I’ve avoided that since I printed and made a thing that wipes the filament as it goes into the printer, I suppose.
Those are surprisingly effective to be quite honest. You never know what kinds of systems people have though, so you gotta kinda cover it all.
They really need to stop selling Ender 3s, 3 pro, 3 v2, and other ‘prior generation’ Enders. The 3v3 is the one to get now, and doesn’t have near the learning curve of the old ones.
The 0.2mm nozzle has less material flowing through it than the 0.4mm
You can only force so much material through it before your nozzle before the extruder starts skipping
Think of a garden hose, the 0.4 mm nozzle is the hose flow unobstructed. When you put the finer nozzle on the hotend it’s like putting your finger over the end, the pressure behind the nozzle goes up.
Try printing at the same speed as the 0.4mm nozzle (this is what I do) and make sure that your slicer is properly configured for your new nozzle and it should adjust the flow so that it doesn’t chew the filament to bits in the extruder.
Also 0.2mm nozzles will clog a lot easier than a 0.4mm nozzle due to the smaller opening so you need to be pickier about filament.
You say you think you’re having heatcreep issues, what exactly are the issues you’re having?
The thing is, you can force plastic through a smaller nozzle. But you end up with a problem called die-swell, where the filament then re-expands after exiting the nozzle. You’ll see this REALLY easily with silk filaments.
You say you think you’re having heatcreep issues, what exactly are the issues you’re having?
there’s a swelling of the filament, about 1" tall, above the hot end.
Related - I’ve replaced the PTFE tube with a higher quality one and I’ve replaced the nozzle (it was indeed clogged).
Did you follow some guide when replacing the nozzle and bowden tube? Did you hot tighten it when putting them back?
What speed are you printing at, which you think is too slow? What’s your acceleration?
Did you follow some guide when replacing the nozzle and bowden tube?
No, it’s pretty intuitive so I just did it.
Did you hot tighten it when putting them back?
Yep.
What speed are you printing at, which you think is too slow? What’s your acceleration?
I was printing a speed test, the inbuilt one from Orca Slicer. Starts with a huge, slow brim, then low speed 10 layers, then slightly faster 10 layers, repeat until it fails.
The hole is a circle, the .4 lays down 4 times as much material as the .2
